Went to the local (60 miles away) orchard today to pick up some of the last of their cider stock to make what I need to get me through the summer.

I called them ahead of time, and asked if they had any preservatives or additives to their juice. The response was no. awesome.

got there, picked up a jug (milk carton type in their local market store) and read the label,

Looked at the label to make sure it's got nothing to hinder me. first one I found. no additives on the label. Loaded up 20, put them in the truck and headed back home. (another 60 miles)

got home and noticed that one of the labels was different. I read closer and it says it's got less than 0.1% sorbate for freshness.... needless to say i'm irritated and thought, well what if it's just one out of 20. wouldnt you know it, 17 out of 20 have the same thing.

So my new question to you guys is posed... 0.1% is .001 * 128 oz in a gallon which is 1/8 of an ounce (0.125). 1/8 ounce (liquid) is a teaspoon of sorbate per gallon. Now i'm a bit stuck and not sure if I can use this stuff.

Anyone ever overcome a sorbated brew before? would it be possible to hit it with just a massive infusion of yeast to get it to ferment?

I know I probably should have checked every label, but I feel a bit misled here. Even if I found they all had sorbate, it was a contradiction of what was told to me over the phone prior to going there.

You already know from the other post, but for future searching minds the answer is.....drum roll....

It will work fine. I use juice with 0.01% or less sorbate all the time with no issues. It won't slow the yeast down one bit.

Huge difference between 0.01% and .1%, though!

I have never had good luck with starting a ferment with a sorbated cider or juice (or with sodium benzoate) but I've only been doing this about 7 or 8 years. I haven't tried lately, since I had poor results previously. It's probably possible, at least in theory.

__________________Broken Leg BreweryGiving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

So my new question to you guys is posed... 0.1% is .001 * 128 oz in a gallon which is 1/8 of an ounce (0.125). 1/8 ounce (liquid) is a teaspoon of sorbate per gallon.

I think you might have a problem if your cider has 1 tsp per gallon. The instructions on my jar of sorbate calls for 1/2 tsp per gallon to prevent fermentation. I would suggest using the three gallons of un-sorbated cider as a starter to get the yeast going before adding to the other cider.

I think you might have a problem if your cider has 1 tsp per gallon. The instructions on my jar of sorbate calls for 1/2 tsp per gallon to prevent fermentation. I would suggest using the three gallons of un-sorbated cider as a starter to get the yeast going before adding to the other cider.

ugh, 3 gallons of unsorbated... to every gallon of one i've got? If you think my wife thinks i'm crazy now, imagine when I tell her I want to make 80 gallons of cider instead of 20

I think you might have a problem if your cider has 1 tsp per gallon. The instructions on my jar of sorbate calls for 1/2 tsp per gallon to prevent fermentation. I would suggest using the three gallons of un-sorbated cider as a starter to get the yeast going before adding to the other cider.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UpstateMike

Ditto what GinKings said.

"Lightly sorbated"... Is that like "slightly pregnant"?

It's not needed, unless you have junk yeast the 0.1% is not going to stop it.